


Yule Ball: Act II

by Ramadiii



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance, Yule Ball, the badger and the snake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:31:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4290939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramadiii/pseuds/Ramadiii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the Yule Ball had gone a little different?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yule Ball: Act II

**Author's Note:**

> While writing the chapter for Goblet of Fire I fell even more in love with Cedric's character and here's the result of what happens when I change perspectives in the middle of an ongoing story and need an outlet ;)

“ So how are you feeling about the first task?”  Alessa  asked Cedric the following morning as they made their way from the Great Hall after a late breakfast. “You haven't really talked about it.” She remarked and realized he was looking a little faint.   
“ Um...” He hesitated, growing more pale by the minute.   
“ Do you know what it is?”   
By the look of fear on his face he most definitely knew.   
“ Do you want to tell me?” She asked as they reached the barrel-entrance and proceeded inside.   
The  Hufflepuff  common room was empty as they walked in. It was a  Hogsmeade  weekend and the few who'd stayed behind were sleeping in.   
“ It's not that I don't want to tell you,  Lessa .” Cedric said as he sat down on a plush couch,  Alessa  sitting down next to  him.”I  just don't think I'm allowed to tell you.”   
He looked at her with a guilty air about him, his grey eyes reminding her a bit of a Golden Retriever.   
“ It's all right.”  Alessa  shrugged, leaning back as she put her legs up across his lap.   
She did feel a little sting of rejection but decided that it wasn't any of her business if he couldn't share.   
“ Fine!” Cedric looked around to make sure no one else was around before leaning forward as far as he could manage with her legs still on his lap and whispered “Dragons.”    
Alessa  doubted she could have been more shocked.   
“ Dragons?” She hissed, making sure to keep her voice low even though they were seemingly alone. “But that's insane, how do they expect you to battle dragons?”   
“ I don't know.” Cedric admitted and he looked queasy.   
Alessa  understood him, fear had spread through her body at the mere mention of the creatures and she wouldn't even have to go anywhere near them.   
“ You'd better not get eaten by a dragon, Cedric  Diggory .” She winked at him, actually breaking him out of his worry with a laugh.   
“ Well, if I do I'll just come back and haunt you forever.” He dug his fingers into her side making her double over in laughter.   
“ Yeah, cause having you around for the rest of my life would just be horrible, wouldn't it?” She said sarcastically once he'd stopped tickling her and she was all but sitting on his lap, having tried to escape but only ended up closer to him.   
“ Miss me, would you?” He grinned, his arms snaking around her waist to pull her closer.   
“ Of course I would.” She said seriously even if a smile was playing at the corner of her mouth. “You'd have to be You-know-who to not miss you.”   
“ Aww.” Cedric hugged her closer, still grinning. “If I didn't know any better I'd say you have a little crush on me,  Lessa .”   
“ Well...”  Alessa  said, looking at him as though scrutinizing him. “You would make for good arm candy at the Ball.”   
This made Cedric laugh and she found herself thoroughly enjoying the sound. It relaxed her more than she liked to admit.   
“ So you're going then?”   
“ Yeah, I was planning on it. Do you want to go with me?”

Cedric stilled and  Alessa  could tell she'd made him uncomfortable. His arms didn't slip from her waist however so she stayed on his lap, watching his handsome face twist up in guilt once again.

“ Sorry.” He said, barely managing to look her in the eye. “But I was thinking of asking Cho Chang.”   
“ Oh.”  Alessa  said, racking her brain to come up for a face with the name. “She's a  Ravenclaw , right?”   
Cedric blushed.   
“ Yeah.”   
“ You like her, don't you?”  Alessa  grinned, finding the prospect of Cedric  Diggory  being in love most charming and amusing.   
“ I uh, I guess.” He stuttered and he looked so far from the self-assured Cedric she was so used to seeing.   
“ That right there, my friend, is a 'yes'.” She poked his side making him squirm, an uncertain smile spreading across his face as he did.   
“ You think so?”   
“ Yeah!” She laughed. “So when are you asking her?”   
“ I was thinking tomorrow night, we have astronomy together. To tell you the truth I'm actually kind of nervous about asking her.”   
“ Of course you are.”  Alessa  laughed and eased off his lap, having had to strain her neck to look at him properly it was starting to hurt. “You like her. It'd be strange if you weren't nervous.”   
Cedric just looked at her, his eyes wide.   
“ Since when are you an expert on feelings and crushes?” He asked, only half teasing.   
“ I've observed a lot of them.” She said happily, making a show of her enthusiasm for the act of people-watching and was pleased when Cedric, once again, smiled.   
“ You're weird.”

  


In the end she went to the ball alone. She'd checked with Neville if he was going alone but was glad to hear that he was taking Ginny  Weasley , she didn't know her all that well but if she was anything like the twins  Alessa  was sure the two would have a fun night.   
She didn't mind terribly going alone. She probably could have asked someone else and they'd said yes but for some reason it didn't feel right.    
She did feel a bit out of place with no one to escort her but when she entered the Great Hall she was so absorbed by its sheer beauty that those thoughts washed away. She didn't know if these halls had ever been this beautiful and as the snow fell gently from the ceiling she caught the eye of the  Weasley -twins and smiled brightly at them.

When the champions had made their way into the Hall and were out on the dance floor a nice-looking  Durmstrang  boy asked her if she wanted to dance. He was decent dancer, not as good as her father but then again he hadn't had 30 years of experience so she didn't hold it against him.   
She whirled across the floor for the next couple of hours with different dance partners, mostly  Durmstrang  and  Beauxbaton  students as she had too weird a reputation with the Hogwarts crowd. The only Hogwarts students who came near her were Fred and George, both of them taking her on a wild spin while their dates were in the bathroom.

By 10 o'clock a big part of the crowd had exited the halls, the food, drink and dancing having exhausted most.  Alessa  had remained though, sipping her drink and trying to catch her breath. Every muscle in her body was tired and she was sure she'd hardly be able to get out of bed in the morning but she was happy.   
Ever since she could remember her father had danced with her, even before she could walk on her own he had stood her on his feet and danced throughout the house with her.   
She loved dancing, it made her heart ache with how happy she was.   
Deep in her childhood memories and euphoria she didn't notice Cedric come over, his robe discarded leaving him only in a pair of dress pants, shirt and a vest, and his hair dishevelled from all the dancing.   
“ May I have this dance?” He asked, pulling  Alessa  back to the land of the living.   
“ Yes, you may” She smiled up at him and took his outstretched hand, letting him lead her to the floor.   
It was a slow song and they moved in time with it, a nice change from the fast-paced dancing.   
“ So where's your date?” She asked as she looked up into his glittering eyes.   
“ Oh, she's enjoying herself it seems.” Cedric grinned and nodded to his right.   
Cho was dancing with what looked to be an elated Harry Potter even if his dancing wasn't the best.   
“ And you're okay with that?”  Alessa  asked before looking back at Cedric, catching him looking at her instead of his date.   
“ I get to dance with you, don't I?” He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his breath tickling her and she giggled at the feeling. “I hope your date doesn't mind I stole you away though.”   
“ Oh, I don't have a date.” She clarified. “I came alone.”

Cedric faltered in his movements making them stumble a little. When he looked back up at her his expression was one of guilt.   
“ I'm sorry.” He said catching her by surprise. What did he have to be sorry for? “If I'd known you hadn't found a date I wouldn't have...”   
“ Cedric, it's fine. I probably could have gotten a date if I so desperately wanted to but if I couldn't go with my best friend it didn't really matter.”   
“ Guess I really owed you a dance then, didn't I?” He said as he spun her around but she just laughed as she returned to his embrace again.   
“ You didn't owe me anything. But it is very nice to dance with you, you're very good at it.”   
He grinned with a blush at her praise and Alessa took note of just how handsome he looked with his wild hair. More handsome than she'd ever seen him before which was odd considering she'd spent the last three years watching him closely.   
“ I like it.” She whispered, all of her attention focused on the way his hair moved as he took her for another spin. Before she could stop herself she'd moved closer and one of her hands was running its fingers through his hair.   
He looked a little taken aback but by the time  Alessa's  mind had registered what she was doing Cedric had pulled her closer, both his hands on her hips as they swayed to the music.

Her other hand remained on his shoulder for a while before its will to join its sibling got too strong. Cedric didn't seem to mind, in fact he closed his eyes with a smile as his thumbs traced patterns across her hipbones. She couldn't help the warmth that spread through her as he did.    
With his eyes closed  Alessa  felt comfortable enough to move even closer and trace every line across his face with her eyes. When he responded by snaking his arms around her waist, pressing their bodies softly against each other, she let out a soft giggle.    
He was beautiful up close, even more so than all the other times they'd been wrapped in each others' arms. This time was different and when Cedric brought his forehead to hers and opened his grey eyes her heart felt like it had increased in size, quite painfully so.

She wasn't sure what it meant, only that this was not how she usually felt around Cedric. It wasn't bad, it actually felt kind of good, like she felt the need to jump up and down without knowing the reason.   
She wanted to look over his shoulder to see if Cho had finished her dance with Harry and wanted her date back yet but she didn't dare to look away. She had a sinking feeling that if she did she'd regret it so she remained in his arms, eyes locked in his until her heart was beating so loudly she was sure it could be heard over the music.   
The longer she looked into his eyes the wider Cedric's smile became and it didn't stop until it looked like it must have hurt.    
“ Do you want to go for a walk?” He asked and his hands suddenly felt heavy against the fabric of her dress. It was as if she was brought out of a trance, like the room had suddenly come into focus again.    
“ Isn't it a little late for a walk?” She smiled, finally glancing around her to see only four other pairs still in the hall. Cho and Harry weren't among them.    
“ It's never too late for a walk.” He winked and pulled away slightly. “I want to show you something.”

Now,  Alessa  was nothing if not curious and a little fresh air might help her feeling less light headed so she nodded and waited for him to get his robe. She took the opportunity to poke George in the arm.   
“ Hey, have you guys seen Harry or Cho?” She asked but George shook his head.   
“ Not for a while.” He said.   
“ I think they left after their dance.” Vera filled in and seeing Cedric approach in the corner of her eye  Alessa  hurried her next words.   
“ Did Cho seem upset?”   
“ Not that I could tell.” Vera said back, just as hurriedly. “She didn't seem to look at anyone other than Harry to be honest.”   
“ You ready?” Cedric asked, draping his robe over her shoulders.   
“ Yeah. Good night, guys.” She pretended not to hear George's  “Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Marky!”  and grinned when a thump followed by a groan was heard, her best guess was that Vera had punched him lovingly in the stomach.

  
The snow was falling outside and it got colder and colder the longer they walked. Despite Cedric having given up his robe she seemed to be the colder of the two and she started to wonder if she might turn into an icicle if they walked any further.   
“ Are you cold?” Her companion smiled down at her when they'd just about reached the boathouse and she'd started wrapping his robes closer around her. By the looks of it he didn't even register the cold himself.   
“ Just because you are a furnace doesn't mean us mere mortals are immune to cold, you know.” She chuckled and she tensed her jaws to keep her teeth from shattering.   
“ Guess I just have to warm you up then, don't I?” He stopped and wrapped his arms around her, his warmth immediately spreading through her body like a fire. She really had no idea how he could be so hot when it was so cold.   
“ Admit it,  Diggory .” She managed to get out through shattering teeth, his warmth shocking her body enough to start relaxing and trembling. “You just wanted an excuse to hug me.”

She'd meant it as a joke but the small silence that passed between them after she'd said it made her wonder if he'd taken it as something else.   
“ Would you mind if I did?” He asked and his voice sounded as insecure as when she'd asked him if he liked Cho Chang.   
She pushed a little at his chest even though all she wanted to do was snuggle even close and he let her even if he seemed as reluctant as she felt.   
“ I thought you liked Cho?” She couldn't help it, she was confused. She'd been sure his behaviour had indicated he liked Cho. All the signs pointed to it, hadn't they?   
“ I do like Cho, she's great but... I don't know, I just guess it's not the “right” kind of like, know what I mean?”   
She nodded slowly.   
She knew what he meant. That didn't mean she understood it.   
“ But you like me?” She asked, wanting to clarify things. “As in the right kind of like, right?”   
His face got a little redder and unless he'd finally started feeling the cold he was blushing.   
“ Yeah. Yeah, I think I do.”

As a 15 year old girl  Alessa  didn't hold any belief that she knew what love towards a person other than her family and friends felt like but she could only guess this was pretty close.   
“ So what did you want to show me?” She grinned up at him, letting her fingers run through his hair again to which he too smiled.   
He grabbed a soft hold of her shoulders and turned her sideways. The lake was frozen, its white covers of tiny crystals sparkled and the snowflakes falling from the sky shone like diamonds as the moon shone down on them.   
“ It's beautiful.”  Alessa  smiled, turning her head to look at Cedric over her shoulder.   
He looked at her for a moment, his eyes sparkling in that way they did when he was truly happy and as his lips lowered themselves onto hers she was sure there had never been a more beautiful night at Hogwarts.


End file.
